Hillary and Bill Clinton arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017, in Washington, DC.

To say that it's a tough day to be Hillary Clinton is pretty much the understatement of the century. When the former presidential candidate announced last month that she'd be attending Donald Trump's inauguration, it was tempting to wonder why she would put herself through such an ordeal. After all, this wasn't your typical lost election—her opponent had promised to put her in jail and gone out of his way to humiliate her to any degree he could.

She tweeted this morning that she was attending "to honor our democracy."

But when she stepped out of her car wearing a creamy white Ralph Lauren pantsuit along with a white overcoat, it became pretty clear that Clinton was showing up as a not-so-subtle symbol for women everywhere that they should continue to fight.

For Clinton, however, with a history of wearing similar outfits at pivotal moments—like her acceptance of the nomination at the Democratic National Convention—the look takes on a special meaning. Hillary's pantsuits, once an object of derision, slowly morphed into a power symbol for the candidate and her female supporters over the course of the campaign. Refusing to give in to the type of ugly criticism too often launched at women in the public eye, Clinton brought out more and more pantsuits for every occasion, proving that she would not only wear whatever she wanted, but she'd turn her clothes into a statement about a woman's right to self-determination.

By stepping out today in white, the color of the suffrage movement since 1908, Clinton is sending a message—no doubt an intentional one—to the women who supported her, and even those who did not: This is not the moment to give up. This is the moment to remember the women who fought for us in the past, and to pick up their mantle for the future.